Gotland

The Gotland is Sweden's only native pony, from the Baltic island it is named after, where ponies of the type have been documented since the Stone Age. It goes by several names: Russ, from the Old Norse for horse, Skogruss, little horse of the woods, and Skogsbaggar, forest rams. It is a primitive breed, meaning natural selection did much of the shaping.

Its history runs with the Goths, who were on Gotland around 1800 BCE and used the ponies for draft, driving and transport. When the Goths moved into Europe around 200 BCE, Gotland horses pulled their chariots. That migration carried through Germany, across the Danube and into Italy, ending with the sack of Rome in 410 CE. The ponies appear in sculpture and in runic inscriptions, and their genetic traces are visible in several European breeds.